Fidelity in Public Education Policy: Reclaiming the Deweyan Dream

Abstract

This article explores the legacy of John Dewey, reconsidered and reconstructed within the challenging context of neo-liberal globalization. A free-market approach to the delivery of public education and other social services has come to dominate public policy, with increasingly well-documented and potentially devastating consequences. As prospects for progressive and liberatory approaches to education reform diminish, both public education and democratic governance are threatened. Drawing from classical and contemporary interpretations of Dewey's philosophy and pedagogy, I first explore possibilities for revitalizing public education through conceptualization of, and commitment to, fidelity in public education policy. Informed by contemporary theory and research on political advocacy and social change, I then propose a significant shift in prevailing approaches to public education reform. I argue that we must shift our attention, our resources, and our actions away from reliance on large-scale government mandates and episodic expressions of social entrepreneurship, toward broad-based engagement in a sustained social movement. I conclude by identifying possible entry points—existing or emerging reform pathways that may allow us to achieve policy fidelity through creative, inclusive, and effective approaches to public education reform.